Friday, 1 March 2013

Quality Of Our SG Life

Voice of a young mother in Singapore: NO to 6.9 million people"Just hope that our government will realize our desperate pleas before
we descend into a state of national chaos. that wouldn't benefit
anybody.Sometimes I don't even bother keeping up with the
parliament as I feel that our PAP speakers, especially the new ones,
seem to not make sense when they speak. I understand that they're a
bunch of elite scholars who have studied
so high up, greatly educated. Yet what we need are leaders who listen
to us, who understand where we are coming from."Like the minister who said that it is possible to survive on a wage of
$1000 a month and afford a HDB. If you want to prove a point, show it in
action. Don't just talk only. Why wouldn't he give up his luxurious
lifestyle and show us how he survives on $1000 for maybe a time frame of
just half a year?read moreWhat’s quality of life for Singapore?Our government’s recent position on increasing the size of the
population hinges on the premise that Singapore citizens should be able
to continue to enjoy a “high quality living environment” in the future. A
denser Singapore could still be “liveable” and with economic growth
comes job growth, good prospects and a high quality of life, it said.What makes for quality living? No two persons think alike on this
matter. One may aspire for a bigger car, while another longs for cycling
lanes on main roads for a low-cost, pollution-free and safe commute.
Rather than assuming what constitutes a high quality of life, let’s
discuss what Singaporeans want now and in the future.International benchmarks exist to guide such discussion. Mercer’s
annual Quality of Living ranks cities based on factors such as
political, social and economic environment, socio-cultural environment
(which includes censorship and limitations on personal freedom), public
services and transportation, recreation, housing, natural environment,
schools and education.read more

The road to higher quality of life and a stronger nation

What happened to the well being of Singaporeans in the last 10 years?

If the well-being of Singaporeans has not been hurt, you think you can
get thousands of Singaporeans to stand in the rain demanding change from
the govt on 16 Feb 2013 at Hong Lim Park. Doubling of the cost of
housing, stagnant wages caused by the foreign influx does not hurt the
well-being of Singaporeans?

The SBF is so obsessed with protecting
interest of its members, it has become blind to the plight of
Singaporeans.Throughout the last 10 years, the SBF was perfectly
alright with Singaporean workers’ well being compromised so long as .its
members benefited from govt policy ..for them to say they are worried
about us when their real intention is to protect the short term
interest of its members is pure hypocrisy.

High quality living according to snake oil sellersIt is time to stop deceiving the daft Sinkies that these are progress
and better quality of living. We can only return to better quality of
living with more space and lesser people. And mind you, a smaller
economy with lesser people will not compromise on the quality of life.
Life is for living and pleasure when one can afford it, not to slave and
work just to live and to live in little nooks and corners.Economic growth that leads to being squeezed and being deprived of the
nicer things, basics like bigger homes and car ownership, is bad
economics. Economic growth must lead to better quality of life in all
ways. Otherwise the economic growth is as good as no growth and better
to do without. And another 1.6m people are something that we can do
without.Still want to con people to live in dog’s kennel and claim to be better quality living? Woof, woof…

The missing passionSadly, that is not really the case for some. Why do i not feel the
passion anymore? The patriotism had died off from me. The pride of being
a citizen no longer exist within my blood. There is no happiness being
associated with my country. There is nothing to anticipate and look
forward to. The future looks really dark for younger generations And all
hope seems lost.Of course we can argue that changes and new rules are inevitable and we
should work together as citizen to fulfill the government’s objective
and make the country prosper. But honestly.. Whats its for us? What do
we get in return? We can only get a “place”(Not home) that is harder to
live in.So do we work to make our country a happier place to live in and grow
our community bond or do we just blindly strive for economic excellence
in a country.Are we happy? Why the use of the GDP as a benchmark for our country’s
success? Why don’t we simply use the number of smiles on the faces of
passengers in MRT trains as a gauge for a country’s success? How can we
make people smile on trains instead of making their usual complains.
What is important honestly? The country itself or the people that makes
up a country. What’s the point of having a financially rich economy when
the people are not happy?read moreShifting into reverse gearOpen the newspapers today and it’s all about cars. First-timers can’t
afford cars, car calculations, car history, exploding car (Ferrari
exploded in Teban Gardens)What’s interesting is that there are ways to drive a car, even a
sports car, without owning it. BT reports that leasing is back in vogue
and will be even more popular. So instead of putting 50 per cent cash
down for a new car in the hope of finally owning it, why not just pay
“rent’’ every month and the car returns to the leasing company when the
lease is up. A German full-sized sedan costing about $340,000 will
require a $170,000 cash down, with monthly instalments of about $3,100
over the newly imposed five-year tenure. But it can be leased for
between $5,500 and $7,200 a month over four years, BT helpfully
reported. Then the car goes back to the leasing company.What about leasing a Porsche? You can do that too, provided you put
down a cash deposit (at $83,000 for a Porsche Cayenne). You pay about
$3,000 a month. After two years, the company will buy the car back from
you – at 40 to 50 per cent of market value.Leasing rates have gone up over the years apparently, so you’d better be
getting a move on if you want your butt on the driving seat, although I
wonder how many Porsche drivers will admit to having their supercar on a
lease…But I guess it’s better than wearing a fake Rolex.read moreSingaporeans must save $5033 a month for a 'çomfy retirement'According to HSBC's latest study Future of Retirement: A New Reality, in
order to live comfortably during retirement, people in Singapore
indicate that they will require 66% (or two-thirds) of their current
annual household income which works out to be S$60,400 or S$5,033 per
month.This is 68% more than in the last 2011 study where the figure was S$3,000.Singapore’s
income replacement ratio, together with Australia (also 66%), is the
lowest across 15 countries surveyed where the global average is 78%
read moreThe Goatherd and the Wild GoatsI was really amused about this Aesop's fable- One of the Wild Goats, turning about, said to him: “That is the very
reason why we are so cautious; for if you yesterday treated us better
than the Goats you have had so long, it is plain also that if others
came after us, you would in the same manner prefer them to ourselves.”